Like most artists I’m faced with the problem of what to do with my work after it has been created. I try to show it in exhibitions, commercial art galleries, and other spaces, but the simple fact is most of it ends up sitting in my studio.
Another fact is that there a lot of artists working today and few opportunities to exhibit on a regular basis. So I tend to take things in hand and create my own opportunities. Over the years I’ve organized exhibitions of my work in cafes, video stores, and other non-traditional spaces. I’ve had one-day arts sales and open studio days. Each has had various levels of success, and I’m always interested in exploring new venues.
Recently I’ve been posting online exhibitions of my Long Series paintings on my other blog My Own Art Fair. The first exhibition I posted is called The Arch and Curve, and it is a selection from my Long Series of pieces that are unified by an arching form that has long been of interest to me. I set up a separate page for the Price list for Arch and Curve as I felt it was important to shout out that the works are for sale, but I feel that a separate pages for the price list is less distracting to the work, and also feels a bit more “classy.”
The second exhibition is called A Ghostly Image. This selection of paintings is unified by a collaged element of a figure that is obscured by clouds of paint and line. Once again I’ve included a separate page for a Price list for A Ghostly Image.
So what have I learned so far? Well, the first thing is that selling art is not easy. You have to hustle and shout. Tell people your work is available for purchase and make use of all forms of social media and never underestimate the power of word of mouth because the easiest way to sell work is in the real face-to-face world.
Painter's Progress 